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Symmetry
Special Issues
Generalized Symmetries and Fractons in Gauge Theories
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Generalized Symmetries and Fractons in Gauge Theories

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2025 | Viewed by 888

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nicola Maggiore

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (I.N.F.N.), Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
Interests: quantum field theory; BRS renormalization; topological quantum field theory; linearized gravity; modified theories of gravity; fractons
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Erica Bertolini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 10 Burlington Road, D04 C932 Dublin, Ireland
Interests: quantum field theory; gauge field theory; fractons; general relativity; topological field theory; linearized gravity; modified theories of gravity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Symmetries have fundamental roles in physical models. Think, for instance, about their defining properties in the context of quantum field theories, or in their characterizing features for condensed matter systems. Recently a new class of symmetries, known as generalized symmetries, has attracted interest in the community, and collects those cases whose definition departs from the definition of ordinary symmetry. This generalization of the notion of symmetries can be explicitly realized in many instances exploiting Lagrangian field theory techniques, uncovering a rich and unexpected landscape of physical effects in condensed matter, high energy physics, and quantum gravity. Examples include higher-form symmetries, non-invertible symmetries, and subsystem symmetries.

A particularly relevant example is represented by a new kind of quasiparticles called “fractons”, which are characterized by restricted mobility. Thanks to their peculiar features, fracton models are becoming more and more popular in many areas of physics and mathematical physics, with applications, for instance, in the context of topological elasticity and quantum information.

This Special Issue aims to collect contributions that share insights on these topics, highlighting the wide physical spectrum involved, and unifying them through the “fil rouge” of generalized symmetries.

Dr. Nicola Maggiore
Dr. Erica Bertolini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • symmetries
  • anomalies
  • quantum field theory
  • string theory
  • fractons
  • spontaneous symmetry breaking
  • low-energy effective field theory
  • quantum phases of matter

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

112 pages, 965 KiB  
Review
Something Anomalies Can Tell About Standard Model and Gravity
by Loriano Bonora and Stefano Gregorio Giaccari
Symmetry 2025, 17(2), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym17020273 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 556
Abstract
This is a review/research paper on anomalies applied in a bottom–up approach to standard model and gravity. It is divided into two parts. The first consists of a proper review of anomalies in quantum field theories. Anomalies are analyzed according to three different [...] Read more.
This is a review/research paper on anomalies applied in a bottom–up approach to standard model and gravity. It is divided into two parts. The first consists of a proper review of anomalies in quantum field theories. Anomalies are analyzed according to three different methods: a perturbative one based on a Feynman diagram, a non-perturbative one relying on the Schwinger–DeWitt approach, and, third, one hinging on the Atiyah–Singer family’s index theorem. The three methods are applied both to chiral gauge anomalies and trace anomalies. The fundamental distinction, which our presentation leads to, is between obstructive (O) and non-obstructive (NO) anomalies. The former is tied to the non-existence of fermion propagators, which fatally maim the corresponding theory. In the second part, we apply this analysis to the SM and a variety of its extensions, which are immersed in a gravitational background, and we find that they are all plagued by a residual chiral trace anomaly. To completely eliminate all kinds of dangerous anomalies in SM-like theories, we propose a somewhat unconventional scheme and exemplify it by means of an explicit model. The latter is a left–right symmetric model. We embed it in a Weyl geometry to render it a conformal invariant. We then deal with some of its quantum aspects, particularly its even (NO) trace anomalies and the means to preserve its conformal invariance at the quantum level. We briefly review renormalization and unitarity in the framework of similar models discussed in the existing literature. Finally, we present a possible (conjectural) application of the model to describe the junction between cosmology and quantum field theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Generalized Symmetries and Fractons in Gauge Theories)
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